Rock Rest and Clayton & Hazel Sinclair

Located at Wallingford Square at the Kittery foreside area, intersection of Walker St (Rte 103) and Wentworth St. and at Rock Rest 167 Brave Boat Harbor Road in Kittery, Maine.

Markers honor Rock Rest., an historic home in Kittery Point, Maine, that, from the late 1940s through the 1970s, welcomed African-American travelers at a time when many accommodations were closed to them.

Clayton and Hazel Sinclair formally opened their home as a guest house called “Rock Rest” in 1946.  While in operation, the house served as a summertime refuge for Black vacationers in the Seacoast region.  Although Maine and New Hampshire did not have “Jim Crow” laws at the time, Rock Rest operated in an era when it was common practice to prohibit Black travelers from staying in hotels, being served in restaurants, or otherwise accessing public accommodations in the Seacoast area.